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Saturday, May 30, 2009

The New York Times analyzes Miami Beach south of Fifth Street in tomorrow's Travel section:

North of Fifth Street, club kids work off their hangovers at Ocean Drive madhouses like News Cafe, bachelorettes prowl for gallon-size frozen margaritas (with four straws) and busloads of tourists search for the Versace mansion. All the while, menu-wielding hostesses canvass passersby with two-for-one drink specials.

In contrast, the area south of Fifth almost feels like a gated resort — though, in reality, anyone can waltz in. More European than Daytona Beach-at-spring-break, the SoFi scene skews a little older, a little more arrived than arriviste, cushioned by the base of wealthy second-home owners from the area’s gleaming condos.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

In case you've been out of touch, Father Alberto Cutié, Miami Beach's naughty Catholic rock star priest has jumped ship and morphed into an Episcopalian, which one very thoughtful Herald reader calls a "fake religion."

The Herald reports that the transformation took place today at a "small, private ceremony ... early Thursday afternoon at Trinity Cathedral, the church's South Florida headquarters in downtown Miami."

Random Pixels has a reporter on the scene who reports that a full-fledged Miami Media Scrum is taking place with "about 50 media people milling around and smelling like wet socks."

The Dallas Morning News is reporting today that "notorious televangelist Robert Tilton [who] left Dallas in disgrace more than a decade ago and has been quietly rebuilding his life in Miami."

You may not know the name, but if you watch enough late night cable TV you've no doubt seen him promising eternal life if you just send him a "gift."

(Actually the DMN is a little late. Miami New Times reported Tilton's relocation to Miami over a decade ago.)

One interesting bit of new information in today's DMN report:

"[Last] February...a masked gunman invaded Tilton's beachfront mansion, and the Miami news media didn't even bother to report the incident. ..."After the home invasion, the Tiltons moved out of their 8,000-square-foot Miami Beach mansion and into a South Beach high-rise with 24-hour security. They put the house on the market for $6.9 million."

"New readership numbers that came in last week from Scarborough Research delivered some very good news: The Herald and El Nuevo Herald are gaining readers on almost every front.

The biggest increases are on the websites, which together draw more than 6 million unique visitors a month, according to Omniture data. If you look simply at the local reach, online readers are up 17% for The Herald and 35% for El Nuevo, the new Scarborough numbers* show. Herald print edition readers are down slightly daily (4%) and up a little Sunday (2%); El Nuevo is up daily (17%) and Sunday (7%)."

Gyllenhaal actually wants readers to believe that Sunday print readership is suddenly climbing despite a recent report that shows that the Herald's daily and Sunday circulation has fallen to a record low and shows no signs of a reversal.

And then there's this: Today while browsing the Herald's site I came across this page.

The page explains the benefits of subscribing to the Herald along with a colorful graph pointing out the various sections of the paper.

Click to enlarge

Notice that on Friday you get LIFE magazine as part of your Miami Herald sbscription.

MOST TAKE THE ROAD TO RICHES, BUT OTHERS SPURN CASHMiami Herald - Thursday, January 9, 1997 by FRANCES ROBLES - Herald Staff Writer

It was Overtown 's version of Pennies from Heaven : quarters and cash from I-95.

Miami firefighter Manny Rodriguez was there trying to quell the chaos after a Brinks truck crashed. Hundreds of people with dollar signs in their eyes went wild around him. Money was everywhere, and folks were dropping on all fours to get some.

He plucked 20s out of trees. He gathered rolls of quarters from the dirt. Bills flew in the air. Nestled in the bushes, Rodriguez found a jackpot: a square white 50-pound bag.

Rodriguez's jaw dropped. A $50,000-a-year firefighter who usually responds to gas spills was working a money spill. And he had just found $330,000. Cash. Currency. Moolah. And he got there a half hour after the crash.

``It was loot , a lot of money,'' said Rodriguez, 33. ``It was very heavy. I didn't even know how much was in there. I gave it to the Brinks guy, and he told me it was about $330,000. I freaked out.''

Why didn't he try to keep it?

This is a practical man: He likes being a firefighter. He could lose the job he has had for nine years. He would get in big trouble and lose his treasure anyway.

Other people find money in the street; I find bottled water and cigarettes.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It was a slow day today. Nothing on the calendar so I set out to do a few errands and then stopped by my Starbucks at West Ave. on South Beach.

Went inside and scooped up previously read copies of the Herald and the New York Times and took a table outside.

While reading the paper I spotted a shopping bag from Whole Foods holding what appeared to be trash sitting by the door.

I kept reading the paper for a half hour before going inside to order a Java Chip Frappucino.

And then I watched in amazement as people who had come in after me picked up their orders and sauntered out the door while I stood there like some neglected red-headed stepchild.

Finally I stepped forward and asked where my drink was.

The sheepish barrista immediately knew that she'd screwed up and apologized and offered me a card for a free drink on my next visit while at the same time starting on my drink.

Back outside, I picked up the papers and continued reading.

Soon a light rain started to fall and I retreated to a table under an awning by the door where the Whole Foods shopping bag still stood.

Curious, I looked inside and found a treasure trove.

Inside the Whole Foods bag was a bag from CVS containing a Right Guard deodorant stick and pack of Marlboro Lights. The cigs and the deodorant had been purchased at 2:15pm. Total cost $8.88. He saved 66 cents on the smokes. Paid for with a credit card.

The mystery shopper then walked 4 blocks to the Whole Foods at Alton Road and 10th Street and bought two bottles of Evian Spring Water at 2:30pm. Total $4.98. Credit card used again. (I wondered why someone would care enough about their health to buy overpriced imported water but still smoke cigarettes.)

From Whole Foods our mystery shopper then walked across the street to Starbucks and took a table outside, spending some time and then leaving without their shopping bag.

I sat at the table for another hour or so thinking perhaps that someone would realize they forgot their stuff and come back for it.

No such luck.

My total take for the day: two newspapers, a drink of my choice on my next visit to Starbucks, a pack of Marlboro Lights, a Right Guard deodorant stick and 3 liters of spring water.

Hey, we're in a recession and every little bit helps.

But if you know who who left the shopping bag behind; have them shoot me an email.

In the meantime I continue to keep a close eye on any armored trucks that speed by me.

I use Metrorail on occasion and have taken pictures from the Government Center station from time to time and have never been bothered.

Curious as to why someone from the transit authority would confront a tourist with a camera, I sent an email to Harpal Kapoor, director of Miami Dade Transit asking for clarification on the legality of taking pictures at MetroRail stations.

In my email I explain that I learned of the incident on a blog but he apparently thinks that I'm the one who was confronted.

But the rest of his email is clear: It's OK to take non-commercial pictures at MetroRail stations.

However, he does explain that "security personnel and/or any MDT employee are encouraged to inquire as to what objects/images a patron is photographing." The entire email is below:

Thank you for your electronic correspondence in which you advised Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) that you would like clarification as to whether or not individuals are allowed to take photographs of the Metrorail system. In your correspondence, you indicate that you were told that you could not photograph unless you possessed a permit.

MDT regrets any inconvenience or embarrassment this incident may have caused you. MDT is not aware of any federal, state, or local law which would prohibit personal photography at our facilities. The incident that you experienced appears to have been the result of the misinterpretation of local county law, specifically Miami-Dade County Code 30(B), which requires permits for commercial photography. MDT also requires permitting for photography when it involves equipment other than a hand-held camera (i.e. tripods, cables/wires, screens, etc.), which could pose a potential safety hazard to other patrons. Although not prohibited, security personnel and/or any MDT employee are encouraged to inquire as to what objects/images a patron is photographing. This is done not with the intent of harassing patrons or station occupants, but rather as a means of ensuring the security of our infrastructure and the general public and ensuring that commercial activity is not being performed.

Miami-Dade Transit certainly acknowledges the efforts of your work. We have advised the MDT Office of Safety and Security and our security contractor, The Wackenhut Corporation, that there are no prohibitions against taking photographs for personal purposes and that the public should not be prohibited from doing so, as long as taking these photographs does not violate Miami-Dade County Code, Chapter 30B.

On behalf of MDT, I thank you for bringing your concern to our attention. Should you have additional questions or concerns about security on the MDT system, please call the MDT, Office of Safety and Security at 305-375-4240.

Best quote: "We got arrested like 20 minutes after they said 'I do,'" said Samuel Lucas, the 19-year-old with the allegedly low pants. "They spent $1,500 on dance lessons and they didn't even get to dance."

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

[New York Times photographer] Tyler Hicks edged his way across a four-inch-wide plank that bridged a rushing river in the Korangal Valley in Afghanistan.

Arriving at the other side, he turned and photographed Private First Class Richard A. Dewater, 21, as he crossed the river. He looked down at the preview screen of the camera and decided to photograph just one more soldier make the crossing.

“I thought it might make a better picture if the soldier was two feet farther along the plank,” Mr. Hicks said, when I interviewed him by telephone last week. And so he photographed Specialist Robert Soto on the little bridge. Then he tried to catch up to Private Dewater.

Just as Mr. Hicks ran up the hill, a bomb exploded under the private, killing him. A Taliban ambush had begun.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

It all started with a 545 word story - short by newspaper standards - published two weeks ago in the Herald.

The paper had obtained a copy of a sleazy Spanish language magazine that featured photos of popular Miami Beach priest Alberto Cutié canoodling with a woman on the beach.

A priest with a woman? Now that's news!

But I digress...

Since that first story appeared, the Herald has provided its readers with relentless and "breathless" coverage of a tabloid-generated story.

All of this, ironically, just weeks after the paper won its 20th Pulitzer Prize for journalism excellence..

The paper dispatched platoons of reporters and photographers across South Florida looking into every angle of the story.

Herald staffers pestered Father Alberto's mother, harassed the woman involved, staking out her Miami Beach apartment, even printing her address in the paper.

It was coverage the National Enquirer would be proud of.

Since the first story appeared in the Herald on May 5, the Herald has printed no fewer than 20 stories.

Twenty stories on what is essentially a private matter between Cutié, the woman involved and Cutié's parishioners.

Cutié has presumably asked for forgiveness and is on a "prayerful journey" according to a diocese spokesperson. And today we learn that the paparazzi who took the photos are now asking for forgiveness.

And the Herald? The paper continues to milk the story. It's the only participant in this whole sorry affair that's shown no sign of contrition.

"In general, I don't think that The Herald's coverage of Father Cutié has been sensationalistic. But I do think that it got breathless and, as days went by, treated him like an object instead of an individual with rights of privacy, perspective and respect. In other words, the Herald got used to treating him as a public 'scandal.' "

"The photos, taken by a vulture paparazzi, were never offered to The Herald, Executive Editor Anders Gyllenhaal told me. But he said he would not have bought them and would not have pursued the story had the statements not made it a public issue. The priest's personal relationship by itself 'is not the kind of journalism we are interested in,' Gyllenhaal said."

So Gyllenhaal wouldn't have bought the photos? No surprise there. The Herald has barely enough resources for pens and notebooks.

But that didn't stop the sanctimonious Gyllenhaal from "appropriating" the images giving the green light to publish them on the paper's website and in the paper.

And Gyllenhaal is being slightly disingenuous when he says that the "priest's personal relationship 'is not the kind of journalism we are interested in.'"

Really? Then why print over 20 stories? Wait! I know the answer. It's not about journalism. It's all about website page views!

There are no freezers in Five Guys locations, just coolers. Nothing is ever frozen.

We use only Peanut oil.

We use only Idaho potatoes.

Our menu is trans-fat free.

I ordered a little bacon cheeseburger and shared a large order of french fries with my friend. The fries arrived in a large brown sack liberally spotted with grease, which as we all know is a sign that you're in for a fine dining experience!

Saturday, May 09, 2009

St Petersburg Times Senior Correspondent senior correspondent Susan Taylor Martin, has written a great story for those of you who wonder where mail carriers go after carrying their last sack of Victoria's Secret catalogs and junk mail.

It's Nalcrest, FL, where there's no home delivery of mail and the old timers spend their days complaining about the rising cost of stamps and reminiscing about close encounters with pit bulls. Which might be the reason that dogs are banned in this little town!

Friday, May 08, 2009

UPDATED Saturday @1:15pm: Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute, (quoted below) after reading my post, dropped me an email early this morning and offers this clarification: "I think I said the job of the journalist is NOT to NEVER invade privacy, but to respect privacy. We do invade privacy when there is a legitimate reason--when the invasion is outweighed by the public good."

Miami experienced an old-fashioned media feeding frenzy this week.

Or as one Miami media watcher declared: "It was like swimming with a bloody, open wound in the midst of a swarm of hungry sharks."

I'm speaking, of course, of the Father Cutié story.

Everybody got a piece of the action.

TV live trucks lined the street in front of Cutié's St. Francis de Sales church on South Beach.

The Herald dispatched reporters and photographers in search of Cutié and his mysterious friend. This morning's stories in the paper carried no fewer than six bylines.

WPLG senior political reporter Michael Putney, who once wrote for the Herald, believes the story is a legitimate topic for discussion. "Here we have a rock star priest carrying on an affair in public."

But Putney has nothing but scorn for TV stations camped outside the woman's Miami Beach apartment. "There's no reason to be staking out her door."

"She never took a vow of celibacy," Putney told me today by phone. "Leave the woman alone for God's sake."

Today I also asked Al Tompkins, who teaches journalism ethics at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, if the Herald erred when it printed woman's address.

Tompkins said the Herald could have accomplished this by running an editor's note explaining why it felt compelled to print the woman's address.

Tompkins says there are circumstances that would justify printing the address: "If she lived in a convent," or at "10 Downing Street," for instance.

Tompkins explains that the rule in journalism is "never invade privacy; respect privacy."

Tompkins went on to say that some one's right to privacy is sometimes outweighed by the public's need to know. Such as a politician's private business dealings that might come into conflict with his ability to serve....

So The Herald jumped feet first into the feeding frenzy, and, in its quest to be first, it blurred a few ethical lines.

Hopefully when all the heavy breathing subsides, someone at the Herald will sit down at a keyboard and explain who made the decisions regarding this story.

And perhaps an apology to Ruhama Canellis might be in order.

Putney summed up the Herald's dilemma best when I asked him if this was the first time the Herald got caught up in a tabloid story.

"No," he said, "but they used to hide it better."---

Michael Putney will discuss the Father Cutié story this Sunday on "This Week in South Florida" at 11:30am on WPLG, Channel 10.

The Miami Police Department will be conducting a Multi-Agency DUI checkpoint and Saturation Patrol on Friday, May 8, 2009 in the vicinity of the 1000 block of the Macarthur Causeway. This checkpoint will take place in the City of Miami’s Downtown NET Service area. The checkpoint will be conducted during the hours of 9:00 PM – 1:00 AM. The goal of this checkpoint is to identify and apprehend impaired drivers before they can kill or injure others.

The Miami Police and Miami Beach Police Departments will show zero tolerance for motorists who violate Florida’s traffic laws. Miami Police officers will be on alert to apprehend motorists who are driving impaired and ticket those who are unbuckled.

This effort is in conjunction with the Florida Sustained DUI Enforcement Program, “2009 Drunk Driving: Over the limit, Under Arrest”, Let Eliminate Aggressive Driving and the “2009 Buckle Up Florida: Click It or Ticket” Campaigns. The goal of the Drunk Driving: Over the Limit, Under Arrest program is to save lives.

Members of the local media are invited and encouraged to support our effort by providing live news coverage. For additional information, please call (305) 603-6525.

For more information on the Florida Drunk Driving: Over the limit. Under Arrest program, and the Florida Click It or Ticket Program, visit their websites at www.fl-dui.com and www.clickitfla.com

If you had just landed on earth in a flying saucer and read the Columbia University press release on Gyllenhaal's appointment, you'd be led believe that all was right with newspaper journalism. And that Anders Gyllenhaal was the Herald's savior.

And you'd be partly right. Newspapers in general, and the Herald in particular, are still doing some great work.

But apparently the writer of the press release doesn't read the Herald on a daily basis or visit the Herald's website that often.

"Gyllenhaal (pronounced Jill-in-hall) has been a leader in online development in each of his newsrooms. The News & Observer was among the first newspapers in the country to develop an ambitious online strategy in the early 1990s. Under his direction, the Star Tribune launched a widely praised remake of its digital site and The Herald remade its primary Web site this year and has launched a series of successful online niche publications."

Gyllenhaal's "a leader in online development" but this was the state of the Herald's website last summer under his leadership.

And when the Herald launched their new website in September this is what readers saw.

And let's not forget that the Herald's circulation has seenan unprecedented decline in the past year under Gyllenhaal's "leadership."

The press release also says that Gyllenhaal has "emphasized experimentation" in his newsrooms.

And then there's the little matter of Gyllenhaal's imperious and dismissive attitude towards readers who take the time to write to him and point out the Herald's shortcomings. Gyllenhaal apparently still believes that freedom of expression and "freedom of the press is limited to those who own one."

And finally Anders, did you give the go-ahead to print the address of the woman involved in the Father Cutié kerfuffle? Even the National Enquirer doesn't print addresses! That's really showing "leadership!"

Whatever!

Congratulations Anders on your appointment.

But remember that despite all the flowery language in that press release, there are still a few of us here in Miami who know the real story of how your "leadership" has transformed the Herald.

Shouldn't you spend your time making sure the Herald is the best paper it can be before you tackle another assignment?

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Not being Catholic, my first reaction to the Father Alberto Cutié story was to ask one Catholic friend why the archdiocese would want to remove Cutié from his post for a dalliance with a woman when the same church merely covered up hundreds of cases of priests molesting children.

He couldn't give me coherent answer.

Ironically just a couple of weeks ago Cutié gave an interview to the Washington Post where he spoke of preaching in South Beach:

How do you preach in South Beach, the land of night life and clubs and beautiful people?

I have a theme I came up with the day that I was assigned there four years ago: When you come to the beach, don't forget who made it. People come to the beach for all kinds of things: night life, partying, dancing, sex, vacations, to have fun. Probably the last thing on people's minds is that they would come for spirituality, but my little church is a spiritual oasis in the middle of the noise of South Beach. I really believe that you find God in the most unique places.

It's the kind of reporting we've come to expect from our big city daily and not a struggling monthly neighborhood newspaper.

The piece, written by former Miami Sun Post editor Erik Bojnansky, is also the kind of journalism that makes politicians nervous.

Bojnansky's piece reveals that "in calendar year 2008, a total of 97 city employees received more than $200,000 in compensation, costing taxpayers more than $22.76 million, according to documents prepared by the city’s budget office and department of employee relations. Interestingly, 84 percent of those individuals were middle- to high-level supervisors at the fire department."

Bojnansky also reports that of the Miami Fire Department's "685 employees, 81 received more than $200,000 in total compensation in 2008. Capt. Jon Hart was the highest-paid person among that elite crew. In fact he brought home more money last year than anyone employed by the City of Miami: $308,317.88."

What does Miami mayor Manny Diaz have to say? "...never at a loss for comment when talking about pet projects like a taxpayer-subsidized Marlins baseball stadium, [Diaz] was tight-lipped about the salaries. His spokeswoman, Helena Poleo, would only say this: 'He does not have any comment.' "

Friday, May 01, 2009

The New York Times reports today that South Beach real estate agents "say they’re working harder than ever to put together [real estate] deals," despite the fact that "inventory is up, prices are down."

Allison Cotter, an agent with Esslinger Wooten Maxwell, says she gets "numerous phone calls from people who want to buy in Miami Beach, but they’re looking for that $58,000 condo.”

Earlier this week we learned that the folks who are in charge of Air Force One had come up with a creative new way to spend more than $300,000 of your tax dollars by flying their your plane over New York City for a photo-op.

But just about every cable news TV pundit pointed out that any 15 year old with Photoshop could have done it for about 5 bucks!

I'm certainly not 15, but I was inspired enough by the event to come up with this scenario in about 5 minutes!